For seemingly the umpteenth time, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be meeting in a playoff game. The two are going to get it on in the Steel City on Saturday night, and the winner is going to have a legitimate shot of going on a deep run here in the playoffs. The Steelers open as relatively short 3pt favorites for Wild Card weekend, and if the previous two games between these two are any indication, the ‘total’ of 48 may be a FG too high.

STEELERS-RAVENS ODDS NFL WILDCARD PLAYOFFS 2015:

1. Why the RAVENS will cover the spread: Baltimore isn’t playing well offensively right now, but its defense is doing a lot more than you would think. Sure, its last four games have come against Connor Shaw, Case Keenum, Blake Bortles, and Ryan Tannehill, but holding teams down to 15.0 points per game in that stretch is impressive.

The Ravens have had more and more confidence in their running game with Justin Forsett of late, and there is no reason not to think that they won’t put the ball in his gut at least 15-20 times in this one. If Baltimore can run it 30 times and keep Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh offense off of the field, it will have a great chance to cover the spread.

2. Why the STEELERS will cover the spread: If Le’Veon Bell is out of this game, our opinion on the Steelers changes significantly. Bell is everything to the Pittsburgh offense, as he is a great pass-catcher as well as an elite runner between the tackles. Dri Archer and Josh Harris just don’t cut it as his replacements, but for the time being, we are going to assume that he is going to play.

Martavis Bryant has continued to stretch the field for Big Ben, and with Baltimore on corners #6 and #7 this season with the previous five on injured reserve, you know that Roethlisberger is going to want to spread the field out and chuck the pill. The Pittsburgh defense has quietly held four teams in a row to 21 points or fewer as well.

3. Total Talk RAVENS/STEELERS: The ‘under’ has cashed in four straight Baltimore games and in three straight Pittsburgh games, which has to lend to the idea that this could be one of these slug-fests we have come to know and love in this series.

The ‘over’ and ‘under’ have alternated over the course of the last eight games in this series. The last time these two met in the postseason, there were 55 points put on the board, 17+ past the closing ‘total’ of 37.5.

4. Betting Trends for RAVENS/STEELERS: The Steelers are 3-2 SU and 4-1 ATS in the last five game in this series. The home team won and covered both meetings this year with both games featuring 20-point margins of victory. Pittsburgh enters this game on a four-game winning streak both SU and ATS. Baltimore, in spite of the fact that it won three of its last four, is 0-3 ATS in its last three.